HEAS Head Tom Higham et al. publishes on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
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- Recent publication - the Edited volume "Weaving and Wearing Identity - Personal Adornment in Past Societies. Springer-Series Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer: Cham 2025" (edited by Gabriella Longhitano, Karina Grömer, Alistair Dickey, Giulia Muti, Sarah Hitchens).
- Tracing social mechanisms and interregional connections in Early Bronze Age Societies in Lower Austria
Rapa Nui (Easter Island) with its gigantic statues and treeless landscape has fascinated researchers for centuries. A new genetic study published in this week’s Nature disproves the popular theory that the Rapanui population collapsed as a result of an “ecocide”—a human-caused environmental suicide—and shows that the Rapanui admixed with Indigenous Americans centuries before Europeans arrived on the island.
Ancient Rapanui genomes reveal resilience and pre-European contact with the Americas.
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